RC 183 
.R77 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



5^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



SAFE, SPEEDY, AND CERTAIN 
U E E 

FOR 

SMALL-POX: 

WITH 

CASES ILLUSTRATIVE OF 
ITS EFFICACY IN EVERY STAGE OF THE DISEASE, 
IN PREVENTING DISFIGUREMENT, Etc., Etc. 

" Facts are stubborn things." 

r 

OOPyRiaHTBD. 

/ 

V 

WILLIAM ROSE, TRENTON, 

WAYNE COUNTY, MICH. 
I8 77 . 

DETROIT PRINTING COMPANY, 86 WOODWARD AVENUE, DETROIT 





PREFACE. 



The world's history has been one of discovery. Age after age has 
revealed some secret before undivulged ; some fact before unknown. 
A trivial incident has disclosed an economy hitherto undreamt of ; a 
mere accident a mine of wealth hidden for ages. The falling of an 
apple discovered the law of gravitation ; the exhalation from a kettle 
suggested the steam engine. The gold-fields of Australia and Cali- 
fornia, trodden over for centuries by rude Aborigines, have not till 
lately enriched the world with their treasures. Science, with all its 
enterprise, delving below and peering above, has revealed but a tithe 
of the world's wonders. The discoveries of future generations might 
prove as startling to those who live now, as those of our day would be 
to our ancestors — not the least surprising, perhaps, the new found uses 
of familiar things. What has already happened may happen again. 
Gas, steam, electricity — as old as the earth — were each elementarily 
known to our forefathers. It required, however, an ingenious mind 
to descry their scientific appropriation ; and a skilful hand to apply 
them to lighting, to locomotion, and to telegraphy. 

What is true of science in general, is equally so of medicine in 
particular. The herb by the wayside, the chemical in the laboratory, 
the mineral beneath our feet, may yet be found to possess a remedial 
virtue now unthought of. Diseases, at present regarded as hopelessly 
remediless, may, by the brighter light of discovery, be easily curable. 
The order and benificence pervading Creation ; the Providential laws, 
preserving and rectifying, everywhere in operation, point to such a 
conclusion. 

The cooling fruits of summer, while illustrating a wise and kind 
economy, indicate also the refrigerant uses of acids : hence their 
remedial employment in fever. In addition to this febrifugal prop- 
erty, they possess, as is well known, an antidotal one also. Every in- 
telligent housewife is aware that vinegar, a vegetable acid, neutralizes 
the taint of meat — an incipient animal poison. Infectious fevers — ■ 



3 



riot excepting the variolous or small-pox — are not unfrequently at- 
tributable to fetid or ammonical exhalations,* or, as some imagine, to 
a miasm having an affinity to, and residing in, these exhalations. Ex- 
perience has shown, that sometimes in typhus fever, an ammoniacal 
effluvium from the patient is scarcely endurable. Is it unreasonable, 
therefore, to suppose, that an acid, or acids, may exist, specifically 
antidotal to the miasm producing these infectious febrile diseases ? If 
it be not, the inference will hardly be an illogical one, that a timely 
administration of the antidote — as in the case of palpable poisons — 
might intercept the effect of a deleterious cause.. It is surely not be- 
yond the range of probability either, that an antidote to the poison 
might prove remedial also to the diseased condition resulting from it* 

Considerations such as these demand at least a respectful attention 
to the remedy treated of in this pamphlet ; a remedy hitherto regarded 
perhaps as the offspring of empiricism) but possibly, after all, perfectly 
harmonious with science. 

May not the infrequency of small-pox in the interior of France be 
attributable to the large amount of tartaric acid in French wines? 
Judging from the success attending a limited number of experiments 
with the remedy referred to as a preventive of small-pox, it would 
appear so. 

Whether the theory suggested be a correct one or not, the cases 
hereafter detailed conclusively show that a remedy exists, specifical to 
the fever of small-pox in all its stages ; and that in ordinary cases, 
an appropriate administration of the medicine, and a judicious treat- 
ment alone are needed, surely and speedily to effect a cure. 

Ample details relative to the remedy and treatment will be found 
in the letter addressed to the medical officers of the small-pox hospital. 
Further particulars may be gleaned from the cases described. 

It may be asked, perhaps, why a discovery so inestimably valuable 
was not long ago made public. The correspondence on the subject 
hereafter inserted will furnish a reply. A perusal of it will suggest 
the difficulty of obtaining even a hearing for a non-professional dis- 
covery. Whatever its merits or importance, these, it would appear, in 
the estimation of some, are far outweighed by other considerations. 
The value of a discovery, however, does not depend on its professional 
origin or its official recognition. Let it be judged, as it ought, by its 
intrinsic worth and its public utility. Medical science has received, 
ere now, no mean gifts from non-professional hands : it may do so 
again. 

, ., *4 num , ber of workmen in Southwark were recently employed j?~ar a sewer. Five of them 
failed immediately after with small-pox. 



4 



A discovery so important to humanity — a remedy so efficacious in 
so loathsome and fatal a disease — will doubtless command a generous 
reception and an attentive consideration from the philanthropic and 
conscientious medical practitioner. 

The advice of friends to patent the remedy has not been adopted. 
A course more conducive to the general good has been pursued. It 
has heretofore been offered to Government, to Parliament, to Hos- 
pital ; it is now published — "A blessing to the world." 



jk J^ETTEF^ TO THE ^UBLIC, 



I wish it to be generally understood that I have no knowledge of 
any relationship to the discoverer of this most valuable cure for small- 
pox, though I bear the same family name* 

I was raised within a few miles of Dorking, where the author had 
his discovery in full operation, and have known of several most rapid 
and wonderful cures by the use of bi-tartrate of potash. As prevent 
tion is better than cure, it is a sure preventive, and if taken in time 
will arrest most all fevers. 

When leaving England for this land of my adoption, I brought a 
copy of this work with me, and I believe it has been the means of 
preventing a deal of sickness in my own family. I have been in this 
country now eight years, and have watched with anxiety every time 
the loathsome disease of small-pox made its appearance around us, 
expecting that the valuable cure discovered by Mr. Thomas Rose ot 
Dorking, England, might be introduced by some conscientious and 
philanthropic medical practitioner, but as such has not been the case 
I feel bound, for humanity's sake (as hundreds are dying annually by 
that most dreaded of diseases), to publish this work for the benefit of 
the American people. The receipt is given as a blessing to the world. 

In concluding my letter to a generous people, I wish it to be 
understood that I lay no claim to the discovery which is so elaborately 
described and its mode of treatment made so plain in every stage of 
the disease, and for all ages, and is made so plain that all might under- 
stand it thoroughly, and I trust this pamphlet may find its way into 
every home in this fair country, there to be stored up as a magazine ot 
wealth, to be relied upon and trusted, should that fell destroyer of life 
and beauty visit you. Remember, all are liable to its withering blast, 
and no man is sure to escape ; therefore I ask you to read carefully this 
pamphlet all through, for it is well to be thoroughly posted with re- 
gard to its proper treatment ; and remember that it is given as a 
blessing to the world by the author, and I have determined to assist 
him in his humane efforts with the small capital at my disposal, in 
republishing this book at a low price, to enable the poorest person to 
be in possession of it. And all I ask from a grateful people is to help 
me by becoming agents for the book, and if every person that is for- 
tunate enough to obtain possession of the receipt will advocate it to 
their friends, they will perform an act of humane kindness, and very 
soon the disagreeable practice of vaccination will be pronounced by 
an outraged and indignant people to be unnecessary. I now conclude 
with a few lines from the poet : 

For every evil under the sun 
There is a remedy or there is none ; 
If there is one let us find it, 
If there is none never mind it. 

W. ROSE. 

Trenton, Wayne County, Michigan. 



J 



A SAFE, SPEEDY AND CERTAIN 



CURE 



FOR 

t 

SMALL-POX. 



The small-pox has for ages been the pest and dread of nations. 
At what precise period this loathsome disease first appeared is involved 
in doubt. Some profess to trace its existence in China and India, 
long before the time of Hippocrates. It seems clear, however, that 
in the sixth century it had visited Egypt, and in the tenth our own 
country. For generations its ravages were appalling. In Europe 
alone, hundreds of thousands were annually victims to its malignancy; 
and at one period a fourth of the human race is thought to have 
borne, in suffering and disfigurement, the effects of its virulence. 
The treatment of the disease, adopted even in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, must have frightfully increased its fatality. A biographer of 
Sydenham thus describes it: "The usual mode of dealing with this 
then fearfully virulent disorder, as with eruptive fevers generally, was 
as opposite as could well be imagined to the dictates of either nature 
or common sense. The unhappy patient was loaded with bed-clothes 
lest one refreshing breeze should fan his burning frame ; the curtains 
were drawn closely round ; whilst under the notion of the existence 
of a peutrescency in the blood, he was all the time plied with a round, 
of stimulant and cordials, to say nothing of the perhaps less potent, 
but more disgusting ingredients, with which good care was taken that 
he should be sufficiently charged, described altogether by a nearly 
contemporary physician, as Venice treacle, Virginian snake-root, 
zeodary, saffron, volatile salt of hartshorn, powder of viper's flesh, 
and the like." 

Fatal though the small-pox was during the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries, the following statistics show a considerable vari- 
ation in its virulence ; 



7 



Marshall's Mortality of Metropolis and Bills of Mortality, 
in British Museum. 

v Average small-pox T v Average small-pox 

Ten Years. deaths per 1000. 1 en Years. deaths per 1000. 



1650—1660 48 

1660—1670 36 

1670—1680 71 

1680—1690 73 

1690—1700 45 

1700—1710 53 

1710—1720 81 

1720—1730 82 



1730—1740 76 

1740—1750 77 

1750—1760 100 

1760—1770 108 

1770—1780 98 

1780—1790 87 

1790—1800 86 



The introduction of inoculation into England took place early in 
the eighteenth century. High anticipations were raised respecting it. 
The operation, it is true, was usually advantageous in mitigating per- 
sonal suffering, and the mortality among those who submitted to it was 
greatly lessened. Its value to society, however, may be seriously 
questioned ; the mortality from small-pox being in the aggregate — as 
a reference to the foregoing statistics will show — by no means dimin- 
ished. The dissemination of the disease and the danger of contami- 
nation, counterbalanced in disadvantage the benefit of modification. 

The discovery of vaccination was hailed with delight. Its dis- 
coverer alleged that it was "attended with the singularly beneficial 
effect of rendering the person so inoculated perfectly secure from the 
infection of small-pox." 

The brightest hopes were cherished that henceforth the fell 
destroyer of the human race would exist no more. Parliament in 
gratitude for so hopeful a boon voted to Dr. Jenner, in 1802, £10,000, 
and in 1807, £20,000 more. The high expectations once entertained 
respecting vaccination have failed however to be realized. More than 
half a century has passed away since its introduction, yet the greatest 
diversity of opinion still prevails respecting it. Its nature ;* the day 
of its maturity \ the eligibility of its directness from the cow ; its de- 
terioration by transmission ; the extent and duration of its protective 
power ; the propriety of its re -performance ; the question as to its 
possessing a prophylactic virtue at all ;f its effect upon the general 
health ; the transmission of other diseases by the operation J are each 
and all subjects of keen discussion. While theorists contend, facts 
reveal the truth. The Registrar General's weekly return, January 
10th, 1863, reports that " a boy, aged one year, died of scrofula, 
caused by impure vaccination." The excellent Sir Culling Eardley 
has since fallen a victim to re-vaccination. The Medical Times of 



*Equine lymph, or in less fine and homely phrase " the grease" from horses' heels, is said to 
be similar in nature to vaccine. The employment of the former is recommended in the Report of 
the Committee of the Medical Association for 1859. 

tThe Registrar General's returns for the weeks ending June 20th, June 27th, July 4th, July 
11th, and July 18th, report in the aggregate the occurrence of 42 deaths from small-pox after 
vaccination. 

^Referring to this question. M. Ricord, a high medical authority, in a lecture recently deliv- 
ered by him at the Hotel Dieu, Paris, said : " If ever the transmission of disease with vaccine 
lymph is clearly demonstrated, vaccination ?nust be altogether discontinued, for, in the present 
state of science, we are in possession of no criterion which may permit the conscientious prac- 
titioner to assert that the lymph he vaccinates with is perfectly free from admixture with tainted 
blood. 



8 



May 30th last, records the decease of a lady from the same cause.* 
The great increase of infant mortality, amounting in the aggregate to 
254,000 deaths in the seven years immediately succeeding the passing 
of the compulsory vaccination act, is ominously suggestive. The fact 
is equally so that this mortality is to a considerable extent proportion- 
ate to the vaccinations performed.f " Does vaccination prevent small- 
pox?" asks ' C. T. P.," a medical practitioner, in a letter to the Daily 
Telegraph of May 18th, 1863. "As at present performed it appears 
doubtful, seeing that 81 per cent, of the Small-pox Hospital patients, 
recently admitted, were found to have been vaccinated ; and already 
in the first three months of the present year, between forty and fifty 
have died who had been vaccinated." "These facts," continues the 
same writer, "are serious, and there is no wonder that the public — 
rich and poor alike — are ever asking the question, ' What is the use of 
vaccination ?' and thousands are disinclined to run the risk of being 
impregnated with diseases which may be conveyed into their system 
by vaccine lymph. "J 

Small-pox, notwithstanding the general prevalence of vaccination, 
— more general, perhaps, than at any previous period, — notwithstand- 
ing the enforcement of vaccination by an un-English law, and an 



* This lady was revaccinated on the 14th of May, from " good matter from the vesicle of a 
healthy child." On the following morning very singular symptoms had set in ; the arm was much 
swollen, and had a dark purplish hue, much resembling bullock's liver, the punctures nearly invis- 
ible, and the whole region of" the operation presenting the appearance of having been bitten by a 
venomous reptile. Remedies were appHed, but the patient rapidly grew worse ; other professional 
advice was necessary, and Dr. Bridge, of Argyll-place, Mr. Tatum, of St. George's Hospital, and 
Dr. MacKenna, of Great Marlborough-street, attended ; but the symptoms entirely baffled their 
skill and experience, and the patient died at midnight of the 18th, of (as agreed by the gentlemen 
named) phlegmonous [inflammatory] erysipelas. — Letter of Mr. j. W. Wells, Assistant-Surgeon, 
of ma,7iy years' practice. 

t On March 7th, 1859, Lord Granville, the President of the Privy Council, stated to the House 
of Lords, that the vaccinations performed bore certain proportions to the births in a series of years. 
The Right Hon. R. Lowe, in his speech to the House of Commons, on the 10th of July, 1861, gave 
the statistics of infant mortality for eight years. The following is a tabular result of such state- 
ments : 





Proportion of 


Deaths from all causes 


Date. 


Vaccinations to Births. 


under one year. 


1853* 


33 per cent. 


318,000 


1854 


65 


408,000 


1855 


56 


354,000 


1856 


54 


350,000 


1857 


52 


338,000 


1858 




341,000 


1859 




335,000 


1860 




854,000 



* Compulsory Vaccination Act passed 20th of August. 



% The concluding portion of this gentleman's letter is too interesting and important not to be 
given : " The people are taxed, and so far from small-pox being prevented, there is not the 
slightest doubt that filthy diseases have been conveyed from child to child, while the vaccine 
lymph has been held in abeyance. Jenner maintained that vaccination was preventive for life. 
Now, seeing that vaccination is a failure, septennial vaccination is proposed. That which you call 
1 stupid mistrust ' on the part of the public, is well-founded doubt. I have had considerable experi- 
ence, in my professional capacity, of small-pox, and have just attended a lady, who had been 
vaccinated for confluent small-pox, in its most severe form. There is no doubt, sir, that public 
faith in vaccination is shaken, and the remedy is, not to enforce it upon an unwilling people, but to 
appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the whole subject. In the meantime, let there be pro- 
vision for the reception of small-pox cases, in an hospital, in the South of London, and another at 
the East-end of London, near those foul and fetid hovels where, as you properly remark, small-pox 
is generated. Did your space permit a longer letter, I could produce much startling evidence to 
show that small-pox has never been diminished by vaccination. As you say, 1 In the present 
century, we have so long enjoyed a comparative immunity, that we have reposed in fancied 
security.' Small-pox, as a direful malady, had faded away in this country before vaccinaticn was 
fashionable. Statistics which I could furnish prove this fact." 



9 



annual expenditure in England and Wales alone, from private sources 
and public funds, of probably £200,000 or £250,000 for its perform- 
ance, — notwithstanding the great improvement in the treatment of 
small-pox and the attention of late years to sanitary reform,* — not- 
withstanding this despotic legislation — this vast expenditure — this 
amelioration in treatment, small-pox still yearly slays its hundreds and 
its thousands. Of this, the following statistics, courteously furnished 
by the Registrar General, are lamentably illustrative : — 



Deaths from Small-pox in England and Wales. 1851-61, (including 

London). 



1851 6,997 

1852 7,320 

1853 3,151 

1854 2,808 

1855 2,525 

1856 2,277 

1857 3,936 

1858 6,460 

1859 3,848 

1860 2,749 

1861 1,320 



1862 not at present known. 
Mortality in 11 years, ... 43,391 



Deaths from Small-pox in England and Wales in 1861, (including 

London). 

All ages, 1,320 

Under 1 year, 330 

1 year, * 153 

2 " 98 

3 " 73 

4 " ... 69 

W 

Under 5 years, 723 

5 years, 140 

10 " 60 

15 " 72 

20 " 89 

25 " 100 

35 " 62 

45 " 51 

55 " 17 

65 " 3 

75 " 1 

85 « ;; 2 

95 and upwards, — 



* B <* h means hi &Wy contributory to a diminution of the fatality of small-pox. but appropriated 
to the enhancement of vaccination. 



10 



Deaths from Small-pox in London from 1850 to 1862 (both 

inclusive.) 

1850 498 

1851 1,066 

1852 1,166 

1853 217 

1854 676 

1855 1,024 

1856 522 

1857 154 

1858 247 

1859 1,156 

1860 877 

1861 215 

1862 345 

Mortality in 13 years, ... 8,163 



Deaths in the Small-pox Hospital, Registered in the Fifty-two 
Weeks ending Saturday, 27th December, 1862. 

Males, 36 

Females, 20 

Total, 56 



Deaths from Small-pox, in London, in the Quarter ending— 



Apiil 2, 
1859. 


March 31, 
1860. 


March 30, 
1861. 


March 29, 
1862. 


March 28, 1863. 










Under 
20 years. 


20 and 
under 40. 


40 and 
under 50. 


60 and 
upwards. 


Total. 










296 


103 


23 


None. 




201 


464 


73 


37 










422 



Deaths from Small-pox, in London, Eegistered in the Eighteenth 
Week of each of the Following Years. 



May 7, 
1853. 


May 6, 
1854. 


May 5, 
1855. 


May 3, 
1856. 


May 9, 
1857. 


May 8, 
1858. 


May 7, 
1859. 


May 5, 
1860. 


May 4, 
1861. 


May 3, 
1862. 


May 2, 
1863. 


1 


12 


15 


8 


2 


3 


26 


18 


8 


2 


68 



Deaths from Small-pox. in London, Registered in the Weeks ending 

Respectively — 



1863— Deaths. 


1863— Deaths. 


1863— Deaths. 


1863— Deaths. 


1863— Deaths. 


1863— Deaths. 


Jan. 3... 35 
" 10...24 
" 17... 21 
" 24...17 
" 31. ..39 


Feb. 7... 28 
" 14... 23 
" 21. ..25 
28.. .42 


Mar. 7. ..42 
" 14.. .47 
" 21...45- 
" 28.. .34 


Apr. 4... 45 
" 11. ..68 
" 18. ..62 
" 25...65 


May 2... 68 
" 9.. .71 
" 16.. .61 
" 23... 68 
" 30.. .68 


June 6... 56 
" 13... 43 
" 20.. .64 
" 27... 49 











Total number of deaths returned during the present year, to June 27, 1,210. 



11 



It will thus be seen that no fewer than 43,39* persons were victims 
to small-pox in England and Wales in eleven years ; that of those who 
died from the disease in 1861, more than half were under five years of 
age >* and that during the portion of the present year already expired, 
more than 1,200 have died of it in London alone* 

Humanity, groaning and Writhing under so loathsome a disease — •■ 
Affection, with tears, mourning her bereaVements^Philanthropy, wist- 
fully gazing heavenward for relief, each imploringly ask, Is there 
nought in Creation to allaviate this sufferings and to avert this mortal- 
ity ? There is. In the Providence of God a remedy has been dis- 
covered, a remedy so simple as to be perfectly innocuous, and so 
efficacious, as in any stage of this dreaded disease to be uniformly 
effectual. Three Thousand Cases of small-pox cured by the Bi- 
tartrate of Potash— Cream of Tartar— attest its virtues. Taken at the 
first stage of the disease, it at once arrests the fever and restores the 
patient. Administered when the sufferer, burning, swollen, livid, 
delirious, apparently ready to die, it has given relief and effected a 
cure. 

The discovery of the specified virtues of cream of tartar in small- 
pox, was made by the writer's father, the late Mr. T. Rose, of Dork- 
ing, in 1826. " Thinking" — to use his own words — " Cream of Tar- 
tar a good thing for fever," he applied it to the cure of small-pox. 
The experiment was highly successful. Shortly after this discovery, 
Mr. Rose tested the virtues of the specific in the cases of 1,000 per- 
sons, inoculated by himself. Legal proceedings were thereupon insti- 
tuted against him. A trial at Kingston, toward the close of 1827, 
terminated, however, in his favor, and a popular demonstration in 
January, 1828, took place in consequence. During the 20 years suc- 
ceeding this period, the opportunities for still further trying the efficacy 
of the remedy were both frequent and numerous. In August, 1848, 
Mr. Rose, by the advice of the late W. J. Denison, Esq., long the par- 
liamentary representative of the county, and afterwards of the West- 
ern division of Surrey, addressed a letter, respecting this discovery, to 
Sir George Grey, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home De- 
partment. It was thought, and not unreasonably, perhaps, that a boon 
so invaluable to the nation, deserved a nation's reward. An offer was 
made, therefore, to disclose the discovery, on a guarantee of remune- 
ration. Mr. Denison, who had an intimate acquaintance with the 
success of the remedy, not only allowed the use of his name as a 
referee, but kindly exercised his good offices also, in forwarding the 
communication. 

The following is the letter referred to : 

August, 1848. 

Sir — I am induced, at the repeated solicitation of friends, to acquaint you 
that I am in possession of an effectual remedy for the Small-pox, which I 
now offer to make pnblic on a satisfactory remuneration being given to me. 

^ I have used the remedy referred to, for the last 20 years, in the cases of 
patients of various ages, in every stage of the disease, and under the most 
desperate circumstances ; sometimes after being given up by members of the 



* The Compulsory Vaccination Act requires, with certain special exceptions, under a penalty 
not exceeding twenty shillings, the Vaccination, within four months after its birth, of every child 
horn in England and Wales since August 1st, 1853. 



12 



Medical profession, at whose request I have subsequently attended the patient, 
and have found it perfectly efficacious, not only in the prevention of death, 
but in so destroying the virulent character of the disease, as to render it com- 
paratively harmless, even to the prevention of disfigurement from its effects. 

The cases of more than 3 000 persons, in and around this neighborhood, 
have during the time named been treated with perfect success, solely by the 
means I have employed. Out of the large number who have been under mv 
care, but one fatal ca-^e has occurred, that of a child, whose death (as its 
medical attendant is willing to certify) was not caused b v one, but bv a com- 
plication of diseases. I feel it right to state that about 1,000 of the number 
specified were inoculated by myself previous to the passing of the law for its 
prohibition. I beg to express my willingness to demonstrate the efficacious 
nature of the remedy employed, by its effects on a reasonable number of 
patients in any part of the kingdom, on receiving a guarantee of remuneration 
on satisfactory success. 

I have been an inhabitant of this town for the last 40 years, and long 
known to W. J. Denison, Esq., M. P., who has kindly consented to give his 
attestation to the respectability of my character. If requisite, I can also refer 
you with confidence to other gentlemen of the neighborhood. 

I shall be honored by your favoring me with an interview, when I should 
be able to explain the matter more fully, and, I trust, to your satisfaction. 

Waiting vour reply, I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient and 
humble servant, THOMAS EOSE. 

To Sir George Grey, Bart., Secretary of State for the Home Department. 

A reply to this communication, from the Home Secretary, dated 
the 19th of the same month, briefly informed Mr. Denison that Mr. 
Rose's letter had been transmitted to the Council Office, as the sub- 
ject belonged to that department. Nothing further, however, was 
heard of the matter. 

The appointment of Sir Benjamin Hall to the General Board of 
Health presidency was regarded with hope. The subjoined letter was 
therefore addressed to him: 

Dorking, June 14th, 1854. 

Sir — I beg most respectfully to enclose for your perusal, a copy of a 
letter addressed some time since to Sir George Grey, Bart., together with his 
reply to the late W. J. Denison, Esq. 

Permit me also to submit the same subject to your considerate attention. 

Since the date of the enclosed letter, the efficacy of my remedy for small- 
pox has been repeatedly and uniformly demonstrated, in some instances as re- 
cently as the last few weeks. 

I deem it right at once and frankly to state that I am not a member of 
the medical profession. 

I am willing, as far as my present health will permit, to adhere to the 
conditions proposed in my letter to Sir George Grey, and should be happy in 
giving a fuller explanation by an interview. 

Awaiting vour reply, I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

THOMAS EOSE. 

To Sir Benjamin Hall, Bart., President of the General Board of Health. 

The letter from Sir G. Grey to Mr. Denison was enclosed with 
this communication, but the receipt of the latter was not even 
acknowledged, and the former never returned. 

All hope of attention in the official quarters applied to thus being 
gone, Mr. Rose, in the following spring, addressed a petition to 
Parliament. In this petition the secret of the discovery was disclosed. 
This step was taken on the recommendation of the late T. S. Dun- 
combe, Esq., the representative of Finsbury. 



13 



The petition was presented to the House of Commons on the 31st 
of March. The following is a copy : 

To the Honorable the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled. The 
humble Petition of Thomas Rose, of West Street, Dorking, in the County of Surrey, 
sheweth : 

That your Petitioner in the year 1826, discovered Cream of Tartar to be a 
specific for the fever of small-pox, and has since found the remedial action of 
the same to be assisted by Rhubarb. 

That your petitioner, from the said year to the present time, has tested 
the virtue of his discovery in the cases of considerably more than 3000 per- 
sons, about 1000 of whom were inoculated by your petitioner before its legal 
prohibition, and the remainder having imbibed small-pox by infection. 

That your petitioner has proved the uniform efficacy of his remedy in 
every stage of small-pox ; in many instances when those under its influence 
had been given over by their medical attendant. 

That of the vast number of those who have been under the treatment of 
your petitioner, but one — a child suffering Irom whooping cough at the same 
time — has fallen a victim to small-pox, and that therefore your petitioner has 
the strongest reason to believe that the fatality which too frequently results 
from small-pox might by the employment of this remedy be averted. 

That by administering the said specific on the first development of small- 
pox, and the adoption of a mode of treatment which your petitioner is about 
to publish, he has invariably found that the fever is speedily allayed, the 
patient soon restored to health, and disfigurement prevented. 

That your petitioner respectfully submits, that by the prompt administra- 
tion of his specific, and the adoption of his mode of treatment, they become 
thereby not only the means of cure, but of prevention also, inasmuch as the 
probability of infection to others is greatly diminished, if not entirely removed. 

That your petitioner has not employed his remedy professionally, nor for 
any fee, and hereby makes it known to your Honorable House for the general 
good, believing, as he does, that its publication will prove a blessing to the world. 

Wherefore your petitioner humbly prays your Honorable House to take such 
steps as in its wisdom it may see fit, to test and to publish the virtue of the 
said remedy; and specially, that this his petition may be printed with the 
votes of your Honorable House. And your petitioner, as in duty bound, will 
ever pray. 

(Signed) THOMAS ROSE. 

The hopes raised by the presentation of this important petition 
were doomed to disappointment. Its prayer was not complied with. 
The following notice of it, however, was given in the Eighteenth 
Report of the Select Committee on Public Petitions (March 31st, 
1856) : 

Small-Pox. — For inquiry as to invention. 6716. March 31. Thomas 
Rose, of West street, Dorking, in the County of Surrey, (Mr. Henry Drum- 
mond 1. 

The petitioner states that in 1826, he discovered Cream of Tartar to be a 
specific for the fever of small-pox, and has since found the remedial action of the 
same to be assisted by Rhubarb ; he has tested his remedy unprofessionally, and 
without fee, in upwards of 3000 cases, and proved its efficacy in every stage of 
that disease, only one person of all those cases, a child suffering irom whooping 
cough, having fallen a victim ; he considers that the publication of such remedy 
would prove a general blessing, and prays the House to adopt measures for test- 
ing and publishing the same, and also that his petition may be printed with the 
votes, 

A second reference to the remedy, as follows, is to be found in the 
Forty-sixth Report of the Select Committee on Public Petitions (16- 
19th June, 1856) : 



14 



Vaccination. — For inquiry. 12,775. June 19. Edward and Hannah 
Batchelor, inhabitants of Dorking, in the County of Surrey,* (Dr. Mitchell) 2. 

The petitioners state that they are convinced that vaccination is not a pre- 
ventive of small-pox ; that pernicious effects sometimes result from vaccination ; 
and that cream of tartar, assisted by rhubarb, is a specific for that disease ; and 
they pray the House not to sanction an extension of compulsory vaccination, but 
to direct an investigation into the said remedy. 

The decease of Mr. Rose occurred in July, 1858, and in the fol- 
lowing year the writer obtained insertion of a paragraph relative to 
the remedy, in the West Surrey Times. A copy of this paragraph 
was forwarded to the leading metropolitan and provincial journals. 
Editorial — perhaps Esculapian — censorship consigned it however in 
the great majority of instances, to the waste basket. 

The severe small-pox epidemic in the metropolis during the present 
year (1863), called again for action. 

A petition was therefore addressed by the writer to the House of 
Commons. The statements as to the discovery and success of the 
specific, contained in the late Mr. Rose's petition, were recapitulated, 
and the prayer repeated, that the House would " take such steps as in 
its wisdom it might see fit, to test and publish the virtues of the said 
remedy." The petition was presented on the 4th of May, by J. I. 
Briscoe, M, P. for West Surrey. Some technical objection to its being 
printed existing, Mr. Briscoe vainly attempted to obtain for it a place 
with the votes of the House. The West Surrey Ti?nes of May 2d an- 
ticipated its presentation by inserting the petition in extenso % and by a 
leading article upon it. Referring to the supposed remedy for small- 
pox, the Sarracena Purpurea^, the article referred to went on to re- 
mark — "This vegetable product may, for ought we know, possess all 
the remedial virtue ascribed to it ; but why, it may be asked, travel so 
far distant for a little known remedy, when one familiar to us all exists 
at home ? If what is stated in a petition, which we print under our 
Dorking heading, be authentic, the pure Bi-tartrate of Potash, popu- 
larly known as Cream of Tartar, equals, if not surpasses, in its anti- 
dotal efficacy, any other remedy for small-pox. A<s will be seen by a 
perusal of the petition referred to, the discoverer of this alleged spe- 
cific — Mr. T. Rose, of Dorking — some two or three years before his 
decease, communicated his discovery to Parliament. No notice, how- 
ever, was taken of his petition, and he went to his grave with the sim- 
ple reward of having performed a duty. The fearful mortality from 
small-pox now prevailing is surely enough to incite attention to what is 
alleged to be so efficacious a remedy. If in the hands of its unprofes- 
sional discoverer, its success was so remarkable, what might it not be 
made to effect by the application of medical science and skill ? The 
public health and safety, menaced by the presence of a fatal epidemic, 
demand for it at least a respectful consideration and an impartial 
trial." 



* Some of the petitioners' children were afflicted with eruptions through vaccination, and 
caught the small-pox shortly after the operation. They were speenily cured by Mr. Rose's 
remedy. Hence the petition. 

t It has been since stated that the Sarracenia 14 has failed entirely to do any good." 



15 



Two days only were allowed to elapse before a copy of the article 
alluded to, and of the writer's petition, were enclosed to the Privy 
Council. The subjoined letter was at the same time addressed to 
their Lordships : 

Dorking, May 4th, 1863. 

My Lords— I beg leave most respectfully to solicit your attention to the 
specific for Small-pox, referred to in the petition and article enclosed. 

Permit me, my Lords, to express my willingness, freely and uncondition- 
ally, to lay before your Lordships all the details in my possession relative to 
the remedy referred to, and to the mode of treatment so successfully adopted 
by my late father, for the cure of small-pox. 

Allow me, my Lords, to indulge the hope that, at the present time, when 
the prevalence of small-pox in the metropolis is so extensive, and the mortal- 
ity from it so lamentably great, a remedy so simple, so harmless, so effica- 
cious, and so universally applicable, may receive your Lordships' prompt and 
favorable consideration. 

Awaiting your Lordships' commands, I beg to subscribe myself, your 
Lordships' obedient servant, CHARLES ROSE. 

To the Right Honorable, the Lords of Her Majesty's Privy Council. 

The following reply to this communication was afterwards re- 
ceived : 

Medical Department of the Privy Council Office, \ 

May Hth, 1863. f 
Sir- I am directed by the Lords of her Majesty's Council to acknowl- 
edge the receipt of your letter of May 4th, informing their Lordships that 
you believe yourself to be possessed of a specific for the successful treatment 
of small-pox, and enclosing (as an extract from the West Surrey Times) the 
copy of a petition, which you have addressed to the House of Commons, as 
well as some printed remarks on the same subject. And I am to state to you 
that their Lordships (according to their usual method of dealing with such 
communications) have transmitted your enclosuie to the Small-pox Hospital. 
I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

JOHN SIMON. 

Charles Rose, Esq., Dorking. 

A letter, as follows, detailing the remedy and treatment, was then 
addressed to the Small-pox Hospital : 

Dorking, May 13th, 1863. 
Gentlemen — I beg to inform you that my late father having discovered 
the purified Bi-tartrate of Potash to be a specific for the Variolous Fever, and 
having successfully tested the efficacy of his discovery in 3,000 cases of Small- 
pox, I felt it a duty, specially during the prevalence of this epidemic in the 
metropolis, to communicate this information to the Lords of her Majesty's 
Privy Council. 

As in a reply to my communication, received yesterday, it is stated that 
their Lordships (according to their usual method of dealing with such com- 
munications) have transmitted my enclosure to the Small-pox Hospital ; per^ 
mit me to lay before you the details relative to the remedy referred to, and 
to the treatment of small-pox, so successfully adopted. 

Shortly after the discovery alluded to was made, its uniform efficacy was 
proved in the cases of more than 1,000 persons, inoculated by my late father. 
Many cases of natural small-pox were treated cotemporaneously, with unvary- 
ing success. Some of these cases were of a most desperate character, and had 
been given over as hopeless, by the medical attendant. In every instance, 
however, soon after the administration of the specific, an improvement was 
perceptible, and a cure happily effected. A few , years afterwards an unsuc- 
cessful case occurred, that of a child, who suffered from whooping-cough sim- 
ultaneously with the small pox. In the course of my father's great experience 
in the treatment of small-pox, and his numerous opportunities of observation, 



16 



he resolved on trying the efficacy of his remedy in the earliest stage of the 
eruption. The experiment resulted in the most gratifying success. It was 
uniformly discovered that by administering it at this stage of the disease, the 
fever was at once subdued, the eruption arrested, and suppuration prevented. 
It was no less gratifying to find that no injurious result was observable from 
thus promptly checking the disease. The experience of years, in the cases of 
persons thus treated, has only served to confirm this statement. 

In the earlier years of his treatment of small-pox, my father gave simply 
the cream of tartar dissolved in water, and administered cold. In cases where 
the patient was too ill to swallow a draught, it was given with a feather 
applied to his lips. Rhubarb was, however, afterwards administered in con- 
junction. 

The following are the proportions: 

Cream of Tartar, f ounce. 
Rhubarb, 12 grains. 
Water, 1 pint. 

Half a pint of the medicine was given to an adult, in the early-stage 
cases, on the first appearance of the eruption, and the same quantity repeated 
as a dose, in three or four hours afterwards. It is worthy of remark, how- 
ever, that in recent instances, only one of the doses indicated, or the same 
quantity (half a pint) administered in two doses, has been given, with equal 
benefit.* The uniform result from administering the medicine at any subse- 
quent stage of the disease has been the speedy subjugation of the fever and a 
remarkably rapid cure of the patient. The time occupied, however, in per- 
fecting recovery is to some extent dependent on the severity of the case and 
the stage attained by the disease. In cases characterized by delirium, great 
benefit has been obtained by applying a bottle of hot water to the feet. Par- 
ticular attention has been paid to the ventilation of the patient's apartment ; 
to administering all beverages cold; and to his abstaining from everything 
promotive of fever. Pastry has been prohibited. Meat, also, except in cases 
when excessive suppuration has so exhausted the patient as to render nutri- 
ment of that nature indispensable. These restrictions, however, refer chiefly 
to the more advanced cases. In the earlier ones they have been found un- 
necessary. The later-stage patient has been directed to get up and have his 
clothes put on as soon as possible. An out-door airing at the earliest period 
practicable has been invariably recommended. But little pitting has resulted, 
even in the severe cases, under this treatment ; and, as will be readily 
imagined, none in those promptly attended to. In a considerable number of 
cases, some of the worst character, the patients had been previously vaccinated. 

The great importance of arresting the disease at the earliest stage, and 
thus, in a great degree, preventing its propagation, must be apparent. 

I have thus endeavored, gentlemen, to give you the details both as to my 
father's remedy and treatment. Should you desire further information, and I 
be able to give it, it will give me pleasure to furnish it. 

I have thought it desirable to note down a few of the cases for publica- 
tion. Some of these were treated by my father ; others have come under my 
own observation. They extend over a period of seven years, the most recent 
occurring during the present week. 

It has given me satisfaction to receive lately the testimony of two mem- 
bers of the medical profession, in this locality, to the efficacy of the specific 
referred to. 

At the request of, my brother-in-law, the late G. Tranter, Esq., for many 
years Superintendent Surgeon of the Malwa Contingent, Mehidpoor, Central 
India, the remedy and treatment herein detailed were forwarded to him. His 
lamentable death, however, a few weeks after its receipt, prevented the real- 
ization of his intention to test them. 



* Subsequent experience has shown that, in severe cases especially, a half-pint dose should 
be administered. 



17 



I need scarcely state that, after the lengthened experience of my father in 
the success of his discovery, combined with the professional testimony alluded 
to, and my own observation, I have the strongest confidence in its remedial 
virtues. 

It is now more than fourteen years since it was ' first submitted to the 
attention of Government, and, judging from the oft-repeated proofs of its 
efficacy, both previously and subsequently, there is every reason to believe 
that, had it been then adopted, the frightful mortality from small-pox, which 
has since occurred, might have been almost entirely, if not wholly averted. 

It would be ungenerous, not to say unjust, to suppose, seeing it has now 
been transmitted to you by her Majesty's Privy Council, that it will not re- 
ceive from you an immediate and impartial trial. I shall await with interest, 
and confidence, to hear the result. 

Eeserving the right of publishing, with other correspondence in my pos- 
session, this communication, and any other I may receive from or make to 
you on this subject. 

I beg to subscribe myself, gentlemen, yours most respectfully, 

CHAELES EOSE. 

The Medical Officers of the Small-pox Hospital. 

P. S. — Since writing the above I have heard, with the highest gratifica- 
tion, of the demonstrated efficacy of the specific at a period prior to the ap- 
pearance of the eruption. The important question now arises whether, if 
administered to individuals exposed to small-pox, it might not prove an in- 
valuable prophylactic. This is being tested. 

The receipt of this communication was acknowledged by the fol- 
lowing letter : 

Small- pox and Vaccination Hospital, 
hlghgate-hill, upper holloway, n., 
London, May 18th, 1863. 
Sir — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication respecting 
the use of cream of tartar in small-pox. 

It shall have an impartial trial. I shall test it as I did lately the Sarra- 
cen/a, by selecting the severe cases admitted in the early stage, that have 
never been vaccinated. 

I will inform you of the result of the trial. 

I remain, sir, your obedient servant, 

J. F. MAESON, Surgeon. 

Charles Rose, Esq. 

The contents of the subjoined letter will explain the reasons for its 
communication : 

Dorking, May 26th, 1863. 
My Lords— I beg most respectfully to acknowledge the receipt of a let- 
ter from the Medical Officer of your most Honorable Council, in reply to my 
communication to your Lordships relative to my late father's specific for 
small-pox. 

I have the honor to state, also, that, being informed your Lordships had 
transmitted my communication to the Small-pox Hospital, I addressed a let- 
ter, on the 13th inst., to the medical officers of that institution, fully detailing 
the remedy referred to, and the treatment adopted in conjunction with its ad- 
ministration. In a reply to this letter, from the resident surgeon of the hos- 
pital, I am apprised that an impartial trial shall be given to the specific, and 
the result communicated. 

Permit me, my Lords, to acquaint you that, since addressing my former 
communication to your Most Honorable Council, I have ascertained the inter- 
esting fact that, in a case of small-pox occurring some time since, the remedy 
alluded to was efficaciously administered, before the manifestation of febrile 
symptoms. This circumstance seems to indicate that cream of tartar is an 
antidote to the variolous virus. The accuracy of this supposition appears to 
be confirmed by its speedy and extraordinary efficacy in cases where the poi- 



18 



son has exerted a terrible influence throughout the system. Considerations of 
a scientific character point to the same conclusion. Should the supposition be 
a correct one, the important question would then arise, whether cream of tar- 
tar administered to persons exposed to small pox infection might not prove an 
invaluable prophylactic. An incident indicative of this is to be found in the 
remarkable exemption from small-pox in the wine-producing districts of 
France. 

Allow me, my Lords, most respectfully to beg your especial attention to 
the inestimable value of my late father's specific in the earlier stages of small- 
pox. When administered at this period, the fever is in two or three hours 
subdued, the eruption arrested, and suppuration intercepted. Your Lordships 
will at once perceive the great importance of thus, in a great degree, if not 
entirely, preventing the propagation of the disease, and wholly avoiding dis- 
figurement. The details of a number of cases, illustrative of the truth of these 
assertions, are in my possession, and should your Lordships desire me to do 
so, I will transmit them to your Most Honorable Council with the names and 
addresses of the parties. 

I have much pleasure in enclosing for your Lordships' perusal, a certifi- 
cate as to his observation of my late father's remedy, given by T. Napper, 
Esq., a member of the medical profession, and long a resident in this town. 

I respectfully beg that your Most Honorable Council would be pleased to 
order an investigation to be made, as to the prophylactic virtues of cream of 
tartar in regard to small-pox infection, and that the efficacy of this remedial 
agent may be thoroughly tested, antecedently to, and at the commencement of 
the eruptive stage of the variolous disease. 

Most respectfully soliciting your Lordships' acquiescence in the publica- 
tion of the correspondence on this subject, I beg to subscribe myself, your 
Lordships' obedient servant, CHAELES KOSE. 

The Right Honorable the Lords of her Majesty's Privy Council. 

The following is the certificate generously and disinterestedly 
given by Mr. Napper : 

Dorking, May 12th, 1863. 
I hereby certify that, while many years one of the medical officers of the 
Dorking Union, I had numerous opportunities of observing the very remark- 
able efficacy of the late Mr. Thomas. Rose's remedy for small-pox. Particu- 
larly among the poor the remedy was a most popular one, but at the time 
referred to I was not acquainted with its nature, though astonished at its 
extraordinary success. THOMAS NAPPER, M. R. C. S., Etc. 

A communication, as follows, was received from the Medical 
Officer of the Privy Council, in reply to that addressed to their 
Lordships on the 26th of May: 

Medical Department of the Privy Council Office, ) 

May 29th, 1863. f 
Sir — I am directed by the Lords of her Majesty's Council to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of May 20th, and to say that their Lordships will 
deal with this letter as they dealt with your communication of May 4th. 

With regard to your publishing the correspondence which you have had 
with their Lordships, my Lords have no opinion to express. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

JOHN SIMON. 

Other correspondence with the resident surgeon of the small-pox 
hospital has since taken place. The publication of it is postponed, at 
least, for the present. 



On the 8th of June the writer, acting on the advice of a medical 
gentleman long engaged in professional duties in India, addressed a 



19 



letter to Sir Charles Wood, Bart., her Majesty's Secretary of State for 
that dependency, 

In this communication a reference was made to "the inestimable 
value of so efficacious and innocuous a remedy, to a country suffering 
from small-pox so much as India ; a remedy not opposed to the predi- 
lections of caste, nor affected by the temperature of climate." An 
allusion was made, in the letter referred to, to the probable preventive 
properties of the bi-tartrate, and a request preferred, in conclusion, 
that Sir C. Wood might " direct the transmission of this invaluable 
remedy to India, and that its curative and prophylactic virtues may be 
there tested." 

A reply to this communication, dated July 4th, acknowledged its 
receipt, and informed the writer "that as the remedy in question does 
not appear to have undergone the test of any extended trial by public 
authorities in this country, Sir Charles Wood must decline to comply 
with your request." 



It will hardly be irrevelent to add that, during the sheep small-pox 
epidemic, prevailing some months ago, the attention of three or four 
large flock-masters in the West of England was directed to the bi- 
tartrate as a probable remedy. If, as some writers maintain, ovine 
variola is identical in nature with human, there is every reason to be- 
lieve that the specific for small -pox in man, would be equally remedial 
for the disease among sheep. The question is the more pressing just 
now, seeing that by a recent Government announcement, the practice 
of sheep inoculation increases the mortality from the disease, and that 
the experiments lately made with vaccination have proved " very un- 
satisfactory." The subject is surely one of sufficient importance to 
justify a trial of the bi-tartrate, both as a cure and a preventive. 
Should it be unsuccessful, little harm will result from the experiment, 
but if successful a great advantage would be gained for the grazier and 
the country. 



"Facts," says and old but true proverb, "are stubborn things." 
Living proofs of the efficacy of a remedy are the best evidences of its 
virtues. Theory may be good, as an incentive to experiment, but 
fact, as a proof of its correctness, is better. More than thirty years 
have elapsed since the large majotity of the multitudinous cases re- 
ferred to occurred. Comparatively few of the late years have been 
treated by the specific ; enough, however, to show that, while the 
dreaded and loathsome disease remains the same, the remedy, "safe, 
speedy, and certain," is equally efficacious to prevent its development 
and to cure it in its most virulent form. The great value of the spe- 
cific in at once arresting the progress of the disease, and the impor- 
tance of its early administration, cannot be too emphatically insisted 
upon. Small-dox has its gradations of development. To stay its 
its progress in the earliest stage possible, is the dictate of wisdom. If 
the virus can be antidoted before producing its mischievous effects, so 
much the better. To adopt effectual remedial measures in the fever 



20 



stage, is to intercept the eruption. To pursue the same course at the 
commencement of the eruptive, prevents suppuration. 

In most of the cases about to be detailed, rhubarb was adminis- 
tered in conjunction with cream of tartar; in others, the bi-tartiate 
alone. The names and addresses of the patients whose initials only 
are given, are in the possession of the writer. 

The case of Mrs. Batchelor, of Stone Bridge, Dorking, is a re- 
markable one : 

In May, 1856, three of her children (whose cases will be presently detailed) 
had been suffering from small-pox, a fourth was failing, and a neighbor's 
family was then under the influence of the disease. Mrs. Batchelor herself was 
seized with the premonitory symptoms of the small-pox, aching of the head 
and bones, general languor and discomfort. The fever stage, however, had not 
yet set in, for, to use her own words, she " had no eruption, no redness of the 
skin, was not hot, but felt very unwell, in fact, quite ill." The late Mr. 
Hose saw her, when in this condition, and with his great experience in vari- 
ola, at once pronounced the case to be one of small-pox. Mrs. Batchelor took 
one dose only of the remedy, was speedily better, and in a few hours after was 
perfectly well. Her infant, who was also evidently failing at the same time, 
was cured by the medicine taken by its mother. 

Mrs. Batchelor had been three times vaccinated : in infancy, and when 
seven and twelve years of age. 

The following cases are illustrative of the efficacy of the remedy 
in the febrile stage : 

Wallace Batchelor, about eight years old, son of the last-named patient, 
was suffering from small-pox simultaneously with his mother. "Had great 
redness of the skin, but no pimples." Took a quarter of a pint of the med- 
icine at ten in the morning, was relieved in about two hours, and played 
about the house. "The redness of the skin had all disappeared by the even- 
ing, and the next day he was out at play, as if nothing had been the mat- 
ter." The patient had been vaccinated. 

Michael Croly, a lodger's child, residing in the same house, was similarly 
attacked, and took the remedy at the same time as the previous patient. 
Was also relieved in about two hours, and played about in-doors in the after- 
noon." The next day, was out of doors, apparently as well as usual. Had 
been vaccinated about two months before. 

The subjoined recent cases show the effect of the remedy in 
smaller doses: 

Mr. King, a basket-maker, residing at Leslie Park road, Croydon Com- 
mon, had a severe attack of small-pox in April last and was professionally 
treated. 

On Saturday, May 9th, a daughter, in her seventh year, was evidently 
failing with the disease. On that day and the following, the usual symptoms 
were developed. On Monday the eruption appeared, and toward the evening 
of the same day, had assumed a pustular form. Half a wine-glassful of the 
remedy was administered at 8 p.m., and a quarter of a wme-glassful only, three 
hours afterwards. The diminished dose was continuously repeated. The fever 
had evidently abated after the third dose — or when a wine-glassful of the medicine 
had been taken. The eruption, tha following morning, had considerably in- 
creased, but a marked difference was observable in that appearing after the fourth 
dose. The modified eruption was " weaker and watery." On Wednesday the 
eruption generally was dying away. The administration of the medicine was dis- 
continued on Saturday, when the child was " quite well." She had been vaccin- 
ated in infancy. An interesting and highly important feature in connection with 
this case is, that the modified eruption had completely gone within a week alter 
its first appearance. The pustular eruption still remained, but was then " fading 
fast." It is equally worthy of remark that a slight pitting has resulted from the 



21 



primary eruption. The facts of this case, and the experience in others, plainly 
indicate the necessity of a larger dose. Had this been given, it is more than 
probable that the modified eruption would never have appeared. The interesting 
result however, has amply justified the experiment. 

Two more cases afterwards occurred in the same family : 

On the following Monday (May 18th), a son ten years of age was attacked. 
A wine-glassful of the remedy was administered at 9 a. m. ; and the fever abated 
in two hours. A second dose was given six hours afterwards, when " the fever 
quite left him." " Three red spots of a hard substance, not watery," afterwards 
came out. On Wednesday he was " busily at play, as though nothing had been 
the matter with him." The eruption was " clean gone within a week." The 
patient had been vaccinated. 

In this case had the dose been repeated in three, instead of six hours, or had 
a larger quantity — as in a previously reported case* — been given, even a popular 
eruption might have been prevented. 

Another daughter, in her sixth year, was attacked simultaneously with her 
brother. Half a wine-glassful of the remedy was given at 4 p. m., on the same 
day, and repeated in six hours. The eruption in this case was of the same char- 
acter as in the preceding one, but more copious. On Wednesday the fever had 
quite left her. As in the previous case, the eruption had entirely disappeared in 
a week. This patient had not been vaccinated. 

The necessity of a larger dose, or a more frequent repetition, in this case, as 
in the others, is evident. The escape from an attack by other members of the 
family, is attributed to taking the bi-tartrate as a preventive. 

A married daughter of Mr. King's and her child, afterwards failed with 
small-pox, "took the medicine," and had the disease "very light." "They are 
neither of them pitted, for they had scarce any spots." 

The three following cases are those of other children of a patient 
already referred to. They occurred a few days previous to her's: 

Alfred Batchelor, five years of age, was taken as with a billious attack, was 
very hot, head swollen. He continued in this state for two or three days, during 
which he was in bed. About the third day an eruption appeared on his face A 
quarter of a pint dose of the remedy was administered, and in little more than 
two hours an improvement had taken place. The fever had diminished and the 
patient " looked brighter." In the afternoon of the same day he played about 
in-doors with the other children, and on the following day, was out at play as 
usual. The eruption, excepting on that side of the head which had lain on the 
pillow, had quite disappeared in two or three days. This child, remarkably 
enough, had been vaccinated about a week. " The arm rose more after the 
eruption came out. He had a very fine arm. He got well of the small-pox 
before he did of the cow-pox P'f 

Lydia Batchelor, aged thirteen, failed a few days after the last-named 
patient. Swollen head ; was very feverish and delirious. Medicine given at ■ 
noon. At this time the eruption appeared, " very thick under the skin, and 
some pimples were out." About three o'clock the patient came down stairs 
perfectly sensible, and in the evening was so far recovered as to engage in 
play. The next day, was out of doors, and helped her mother • in household 
duties. Had been twice vaccinated. 

William Batchelor, aged eleven, was attacked simultaneously with his 
sister. With the exception of delirium, symptoms similar to those of last 
case. The remedy administered at the same time. .Relief obtained in two 



* Case of Wallace Batchelor. 

t The question has been appropriately asked : u If vaccination cannot neutralize a present 
virus, how can it neutralize at a far distant date, one which the system has not yet imbibed?" 
To this interrogation, the following may be added: What semblance of argument for vaccina- 
tion still remains, when by the use of a remedy a patient recovers more quickly and with less 
suffering, from small-pox — the disease sought to be prevented — than from cow-pox — the disease 
inflicted as a prophylactic ? 



22 



hours; the patient at play in the afternoon. Next day, appeared as well as 
usual. In two or three days the eruption had quite gone. Had been vacci- 
nated. It is almost needless to add that neither this patient, nor any other 
member of his family, is pitted. 

It is worthy of note, that a young man who played with the last two 
patients, on the day the specific was administered, failed with small-pox a 
fortnight afterwards, at Ked Hill (and not taking the remedy), had it severely, 
and is badly pitted. 

The subjoined case is remarkably illustrative of the efficacy of the 
specific in an early stage. It occurred in the spring of 1856 : 

Thomas Bedford, aged 23, a carman, then and now residing at Dorking, was 
seized with the premonitory symptoms of small-pox. He was very unwell for 
two days, and on the third day the eruption appeared on the forehead, where his 
hat had pressed. Half a pint of the remedy was taken at 8 p. m. No more 
was administered afterwards. On the following morning, so great was the im- 
provement in the patient, that he arose to breakfast and ate heartily of it. A 
copious eruption in its incipient stage, was plainly visible on the hands of the 
patient and other parts of the body, " killed'' — to use his own expression — by the 
action of the medicine. An aperient was taken in the course of the morning. In 
the afternoon the patient employed himself at digging in a garden, and the next 
day followed his avocation of carter, as usual. He has enjoyed good health ever 
since. As a proof that the complaint from which the patient was suffering was 
really small-pox, it may be mentioned that he contracted the disorder from sleep- 
ing with his brother, who suffered severely from the disease. It is equally certain 
that the case was not one " modified by vaccination," for, when about 13 years of 
age, 16 punctures on the right arm and 12 on the left, were made, without 
effect," by the vaccine lancet. This patient's wife and child, and other members 
of his family residing at Kingsfold, near Warnham, Sussex, were also cured by 
the remedy, 

W. R., aged 19, residing at Dorking, failed with small-pox in the spring of 
1856. The attack was so severe that the disease became confluent, and the sufferer 
delirious. The patient had been confined to his bed some days when the specific 
was first taken. A bottle of hot water was applied to his feet, in conjunction with 
the administration of the remedy. The patient became sensible in little more 
than an hour, and his improvement was so rapid that in a few days after he walked 
a distance of several miles. He is but little pitted. He had been vaccinated in 
childhood ; three cicatrices perfect. 

•Mrs. Worsfold, aged about 55, of the Surrey Yeoman Inn, Dorking, an aunt 
of the preceding patient, failed with the small-pox nearly at the same time. The 
remedy was taken soon after the eruption appeared, and the patient was speedily 
relieved. 

A friend residing in one of the home counties wrote, after describ- 
ing a case of. small-pox, in March last : — 

" Our third little boy had the same symptoms, followed in three or four days 
by a considerable eruption. The doctor pronounced it a case of small-pox. With 
some difficulty the cream of tartar was given. We could only administer about 
half a wine-glassful at the time, but its effects were apparent in removing the 
angry appearance of the pustules, and in preventing suffering. The doctor told 
me he should have regarded it as a case modified by vaccination. The little 
fellow has never been vaccinated." 

The same correspondent, in a subsequent letter, wrote : — 

" Our servant has also had the disease. Her's was a remarkable case. Two 

half-pint doses of the remedy were administered, and she had not the least trace 

of the eruption a week after it appeared.'' 



23 



He wrote also, in another letter: — 

''Our minister called on Monday evening, saying, his two little boys after 
being poorly, had an eruption, similar to our boy. I gave him the remedy, and it 
was taken. The next day they were much better, and the following, nearly all 
traces had disappeared." 

The subjoined cases demonstrate the remedial virtues of the 
specific, at a more advanced stage: — 

John Ayliffe,* of Effingham, near Dorking, failed with small-pox, in March, 
1855. The eruption appeared after the usual premonitory symptoms. It was not 
till two days had elapsed that the remedy was administered. A half-pint dose 
was given between six and seven in the evening, the patient being then in bed. 
He felt better in three quarters of an hour, got up and kept about till his usual 
bed-time. On the following day, the patient had still further improved, and on 
the day succeeding this, the eruption began to die away. Two or three almost 
imperceptible " pits " on the face, are all the traces of the disease now remaining. 

T. B,., aged 25, residing in a village near Dorking, was vaccinated in May, 
1860, and a week afterwards failed with small-pox. The eruption had been 
pustular some days when the medicine was given. A half-pint dose of the 
medicine was taken by the patient one evening. The next day he was consider- 
ably better, and able to get out of doors. He got well rapidly from that time, 
without more medicine. 

H. R., aged 18, was vaccinated at the same time as his brother, and failed 
with small-pox a day earlier. Had the disease very bad. " Was unable to turn 
in bed without help.'' Took a half-pint dose of the remedy, the same evening as 
the previous patient. The next day " was able to walk in the garden." Took 
another dose only, in the afternoon of that day, and continued to improve rapidly 
till well. 

A young man, a neighbor of the last two patients, failed with small-pox 
about the same time, and was cured by taking a half-pint dose of the medicine 
when the eruption was coming out. 

Peter Hamshere, aged 33, residing at West Horsley, near Guildford, has 
been very recently cured by the remedy. Early in the present month ( July), he 
was seized with the premonitory symptoms of small-pox— aching of the bones 
and cold shivers. These symptoms continued several days. On Friday, the 
10th, the eruption appeared, and on Sunday, the 12th, had become pustular. A 
half-pint dose was administered about noon on the last-named day, and a second 
dose at five o'clock. He was considerably better in the evening, and the next 
morning felt able to work, and on the following resumed his usual employment. 

Enough cases have been already detailed to show the specifical 
properties of the bi-tartrate in the earlier stages of small-pox. Others 
of a more severe and hopeless nature remain to be given. Many cases 
of this description, treated by the late Mr. Rose, in the years immedi- 
ately succeeding his discovery, might be narrated. A preference of 
selection however, has been given to more recent cases, not because 
the remote ones were less illustrative of the remedial efficacy of the 
specific, but from the fact that the recent generally possess greater in- 
terest, and may be more easily confirmed or refuted. 



The case of George Baker, f a little boy residing at West street, Dorking, 
was an extremely desperate one. Seized with small-pox about Michaelmas, 1847, 
the disease progressed till all hope had gone. The patient was blind and insen- 



* The terribly severe case of this patient's brother is described in a letter, on p. 24. 
t The father of this patient, who recently narrated the case to the writer, is now living at 
Cape Place, Dorking. 



24 



sible, and lay utterly prostrate and apparently lifeless. It was thought at one 
time, indeed, that he was dead. While in this state as much of the remedy was 
given as could be. An hour and a half after its first administration the patient 
moved an eye. He gradually improved from that time till he perfectly recov- 
ered. The mother, and a brother of this patient, who severely suffered from the 
disease, and three other members of the family, were also cured by the medicine. 
One poor child had already died before the remedy was resorted to. 

The case of Joseph Peters,* a young man, was a severe and well-nigh hope- 
less one. The disease had become confluent, and the patient delirious. He was 
sensible about two hours after the administration of the medicine, and got better 
from that time. This patient had been vaccinated, without effect, in childhood. 
He attributes his escape from death solely to taking the remedy. The case occur- 
red in 1850. A child of the patient's, and other relatives, were cured about the 
same time. 

G. C, a carpenter of middle age. A very bad case of confluent small-pox ; 
occurring in 1849. The patient delirious, livid, " given over." Relieved in 
about two hours by a half-pint dose of the remedy, and ultimately got well. 

Mrs. Kempshall,f Edward-street, Kingsland-road, London, failed with the 
small-pox in the spring of 1856. She grew continually worse, till the disease had 
become confluent. Her head was much swollen. She was blind and delirious. 
A friend of the patient's at Dorking, hearing of her dangerous condition, ob- 
tained the remedy, and visited her. A half-pint dose was administered between 
9 and 10 p. m. The patient soon became sensible, and by four o'clock the next 
morning could see. She got better from that time. 

Another female and her three children, residing in the same house as the 
last mentioned patient, were attacked with the disease, took the remedy early, and 
were soon well. 

Mr. Philip Muggeridge, of Manor Farm, Abinger, near Dorking, 
in a letter dated June 12th last, relative to his being cured of small- 
pox by the remedy, writes : 

" My friends thought I should never recover, and hearing of Mr. Hose, sent 
for him. He came, and gave me some of his medicine. I drank about one 
quart. My head was very much swollen, and I was very full of the pock all over. 
I was at a burning heat, and very thirsty. I was in bed : he made me get up, and 
come down stairs ; and in one hour after I had taken his mixture^ the fever had 
left me. I was in no pain after, and got about directly- You can make use of 
my name if you like to do so. I am sure everyone ought to know such a valu- 
able medicine." 

The following letter from a mechanic, conclusively attests the 
beneficial effect of the specific, in a desperately hopeless case. The 
patient had been vaccinated : 

Deptford, June 14th, 1863. 
Sir : I received your letter this week, and I feel a pleasure in answering it, 
respecting the cure of myself. I was taken ill with the small-pox March 6th, 
1855. When the eruption came out I was taken to bed and a doctor sent for. 
He attended me six days. The seventh day he came, he gave no hope of my ever 
recovering. He told my friends it was impossible for me to live through the 
night. My head was swollen to twice the size it ought to have been, and my 
tongue swollen out of my mouth. I was totally btind for three weeks, and 
thought I should never see the blessed light again, but, thank Uod, I can see as 
well now as ever I could. The same evening that the doctor reported it impossi- 



* This patient now resides at Cotmandene, Dorking. 
+ Mrs. Kempshall has since died of consumption. 

+ In this case and the succeeding one, rhubarb was administered in conjunction with the 
bi-tartrate. In most of the very recent cases, subsequently reported, cream of tartar only was 
taken. 



25 



ble for me to live through the night, one of my neighbors at Effingham* saw my 
sister, and said, " Why not go to Mr. Rose, at Dorking ? He has done wonderful 
cures in small-pox.'' My friends sent to your father, and he sent two do^es for 
me — one to take that evening. Then there was another trial — my friends 
thought me too far gone to take the medicine, and I believe my nurse gave it to 
me with a feather. Anyone would hardly believe how very much better I was 
the next day, Nearly all the fever gone from my throat, and I was able to swal- 
low the second dose with pleasure. My throat was so much better that I could 
take some gruel from that time. In the course of two or three days my nurse got 
me up, and into the next apartment, and in less than a week I could get there my- 
self, although I was still totally blind. I continued to get better until my health 
was quite restored again ; and, thank God, I am not very much pitted. 

I should feel most happy, sir, to tell any one who may please to enquire of 
me about my case, and I do most sincerely hope that you will be successful in 
your undertaking. If anyone should wish to see me I shall be at Leatherhead on 
Monday. I think most likely I shall be there for two or three months. 

I am, sir, yours very respectfully, 
To Mr. C. Rose. WILLIAM AYLIFFE. 

P. S. — If you should please to send anyone to see me, or write, my address 
will be : at Mr. Lipscombe's, Builder, Leatherhead, Surrey .f 

The following case is remarkably illustrative of the importance of 
proportioning the administration of the remedy to the severity, or 
otherwise, of the attack, and of combining a judicious treatment : 

On Friday evening, the 19th of June last, a young married lady residing in 
Surry, was attacked with the premonitory symptoms of small-pox ; pains in the 
back and head, weakness and weariness. So general was the prostration, indeed, 
that the patient felt almost unable to move. On the next day (Saturday), the 
fever had unmistakeably set in. Various cooling drinks were given without 
beneficial effect. The fever had increased on the succeeding day, and in the 
evening a few pimples were observable on one of the hands. On the following 
morning the eruption had considerably increased, and was now apparent on the 
face and other parts of the body. A teacupful of the remedy % was taken at one 
o'clock. The fever abated, and by half-past four the pulse had fallen from 100 or 
110 to 80. The same dose was repeated in the course of the evening, and a change 
in the eruption was perceptible on the following morning (Tuesday). A mis- 
take was now committed. \ Some porter was taken by the patient, and the fever 
slightly returned. Another dose of the remedy was administered in the evening, 
and on the following morning the febrile symptoms were completely gone. The 
return of the fever caused a slight increase of the eruption ; this, however was of 
a modified character and soon disappeared. The patient's general health, preced- 
ing the attack had not been strong. The continued presence of the fever doubt- 
lesss till further reduced her strength. The administration of the remedy was 
postponed two days, at least, too long. The delay arose, however, from an un- 
certainty as to the nature of the ailment. Notwithstanding the unfavorable cir- 
cumstances referred to, the patient continued to improve from the period when 
the secondary fever was subdued, and had so far regained her strength on the 
Saturday following as then to attend to her domestic duties, and go out of doors. 
That the attack was one of small-pox is evident from the nature of the premoni- 
tory symptoms, from the depression which was observable in the centre of the 
three or four pustules arriving partially at maturity, and from a slight pitting 
resulting from them. Another circumstance contributory to such a conclusion 

* A village near Dorking, where the case occurred. 

t The brother of the patient states that the latter was totally insensible, and that hie in- 
coherent expressions were uttered in a whisper. The brother avers also, that the patient be- 
came sensible the same evening the specific was taken. 

JThe following were the proportions: Bi-tartrate of Potash, % oz., Rhubarb, 3 grs. (this 
quantity was substituted by mistake for 12 grs.). water 1 pint. 

§ Since writing the above it has been ascertained that a stimulant was taken on the two 
preceding days. 



26 



was the prevalence of small-pox, to a considerable extent, in the neighborhood. 
The patient had not been vaccinated. It ought not to be omitted to be stated that 
a youthful relative, residing in the same house, was seized with symptoms indica- 
tive of the small-pox. and was speedily relieved by the remedy. 

A letter received on the 10th instant (July), from Wick, near 
Littlehampton, gives the following interesting details : 

A young woman named Eliza Baker failed with small-pox. She was very 
unwell for two or three days. " Was coming out quite full" when the remedy 
was taken. She found great relief from it, and the eruption " quite went away." 
The patient began taking the medicine on the 9th of June, and in two or three 
days was able to do her work. 

Louisa Mathews, about 12 years of age, also failed. She took the remedy on 
t he 21st of June. The eruption " was coming out very full on the face. She 
t ook nine wineglassfuls from Saturday night to Sunday night, and found great re- 
jief from it directly she took it." The disease had been very bad in the house. 

Eliza Carpenter, age about 38, felt very ill, took two wineglassfuls of the 
remedy and found relief directly. The next day, as she was very thirsty, she 
took eight wineglassfuls more, and in a day or two was quite well. 

Thomas Bravery, about 60, felt very ill a day or two, and the doctor said he 
was failing with the small-pox. The remedy was given on the 27th of June. He 
took altogether about one pint, and is quite well now. 

John Booker, age about 48, residing at Littlehampton, felt very ill last Sun- 
day and Monday (July 5th and 6th), with cold chills and back-ache. He took in 
all about one pint. He found relief directly he took the first dose, and is quite 
well and at work to-day (July 9th.) 

A tradesman living at Wick, suffered last month (June), so severely from 
small-pox as to be delirious and not expected to recover. He continued to im- 
prove after the administration of the remedy — at first by tea-spoonfuls — and five 
days after was " perfectly sensible and out of danger" In this case, however, the 
sole merit of recovery can hardly be claimed for the specific, a professional treat- 
ment of the patient being simultaneously continued. This patient's wife subse- 
quently appeared to be failing with the disease, took the remedy and was soon 
better. 

Another letter, received also on the ioth instant, from a lady re- 
siding at Brockham, near Dorking, states respecting two cases of 
small-pox recently occurring there : 

The girl, who is 11 years old, was considered in a dangerous state when she 
first took the remedy, and from that time began to mend, and is now quite well. 
Mrs. W , the mother of the girl, had symptoms of the disease coming on, so be- 
gan the remedy directly, and had no other medicine, and is now well. Her hus- 
band and one boy commenced taking it at the same time, and have had no symp- 
toms of the disease, which they attribute solely to the remedy, It is only right 
to add that the younger patient was under professional treatment, and that the 
medical gentleman in attendance, with a liberality highly creditable, avowed his 
belief in the remedial virtues of the bi-tartrate, and acquiesced in its adminis- 
tration. 

The following recent severe case of small-pox demonstrates in the 
most conclusive manner, the marvelous effect of the specific : 

James Freeman, aged 23, a blacksmith, residing at Effingham, near Dorking, 
had just returned from militia service at Guildford, where small-pox at the time 
he left that town was prevailing. On Friday, the 5th of last month (June), he 
felt somewhat unwell. The next day (Saturday) the patient was still more indis- 
posed. He had violent pains, particularly in his head and shoulders, as from a 
bilious attack. Fever now set in, and about noon on the following day (Sunday) 



27 



an eruption appeared. On Monday he was too ill to get up. On the two fol- 
lowing days he continued to grow worse. On Thursday afternoon he had be- 
come delirious. On Friday, the 12th, the patient's condition was highly danger- 
ous. His appearance, too, was frightful. The disease had become confluent. 
The patient's head and face were so swollen that his eyes were completely hidden. 
The delirium had increased ; he was blind ; his throat was dreadfully bad ; his 
lips were hideously swollen. The spectacle presented was pitiable in the ex- 
treme. On the same day, a neighbor, who himself had been cured, and to whom, 
some time before, the writer had given the formula, called and saw the patient. 
A pint of the remedy (f oz. of Cream of Tartar and 12 grs. Rhubarb) was 
given between seven and eight in the evening, and a second dose the same night. 
In about an hour after the patient had first taken the remedy, he fell into a doze. 
On the following morning (Saturday) he was much better; the fever had quite 
left him ; his throat was relieved ; he was sensible ; could see, and was in no pain. 
The swelling of the head and face, though still considerable, had abated. The 
next day (Sunday he had much improved. He got up, dressed, sat at the bed- 
room window, and smoked. The day following, (Monday) he walked in the 
garden, and drank, without apparent injury, some porter. The two succeeding 
days, ^Tuesday and Wednesday,) he continued to improve, and on Thursday, 
the 18th, i. e., within a week from the time the remedy was first taken, he was at 
work at the lorge. 

Although this patient's case was so exceedingly critical, at the time the speci- 
fic was first administered, the climax (or " turn") of the disease had not yet been 
reached. A medical gentleman, who has since seen, and interrogated him, ex- 
presses a decided opinion, that " under God, the patient owes his life to the 
remedy," as " had he not taken it, he must have died." The marked success, res- 
ulting in this instance from the administration of an unusually large quantity, is 
another illustration of the importance, if not the absolute necessity, of large doses 
in severe cases. The patient was vaccinated when five years of age, the cicatrices 
on both arms being stiil perfect. Notwithstanding the severity of the case, he will 
be but little, if at all marked. 



The writer has much pleasure in inserting the following letter, re- 
ceived just before going to press, fiom G. K. Paxon, Esquire, a highly 
respectable medical practitioner, residing at Dorking, The important 
testimony to the remedial virtues of the bi-tartrate, so kindly and 
liberally given by Mr. Paxon, is the more valuable and interesting, 
from its referring to cases which have recently occurred, within the 
range of that gentleman's own professional practice : 

" Dorking, Surrey, July 21st, 1863. 

Dear Sir, 

I beg to inform you that I have given the bi-tartrate of potash in 
three cases of small-pox— two occurring lately, about five miles from here— and 
one a year ago. 

In two cases advanced to the postular stage of the disease, it had the imme- 
diate effect of subduing the fever, dispelling the swelling of the head and face, 
and arresting the supperation of the postules — thereby preventing the disfigure- 
ment of ' pitting.' 



28 



In the third case, (consequent upon one of the former,) the eruptive stage — 
which was severe — speedily subsided into a scanty and scattered crop of minute 
postules, appearing one day, and becoming shriveled and decaying in the next. 

Expressions of great relief followed the exhibition of the medicine and con- 
valescence was rapid. 

These cases, insignificant, perhaps, in themselves, go far to confirm the suc- 
cess of the treatment of variola, so fully described by you in so many instances ; 
and my faith in its efficacy is such, that I should administer it in every case of 
small-pox that I may be called upon to treat. 

I remain, dear Sir, 

Yours very truly, 

Mr. Chas. Rose. Geo. K. Paxon." 



With such an amount of evidence as that presented, the impartial 
and ingenuous inquirer after truth, will have but little hesitation as to 
a decision. The varied and numerous cases narrated, confirmed by a 
multitude of others, conclusively demonstrate that, for the fever of 
small-pox, the Bi-tartrate of Potash is an invaluable specific, and that, 
in all stages of the disease, its remedial virtues are uniformly efficaci- 
ous. Should anyone, especially any member of the profession, be still 
sceptical, let him test the remedy on the first opportunity, and for the 
sake of humanity announce the result. 

A perusal of the cases reported will have suggested that, judgment 
as to the administration of the remedy, and the treatment of the 
patient, must at all times be exercised. The severity of the attack, 
the age, mode of life, and constitution of the patient should each be 
considered. Under ordinary circumstances, and particularly in the 
earliest stage, the information conveyed in this pamphlet will be found 
amply sufficient. It is possible however, that cases of a complicated 
and difficult nature may arise — as they have arisen — demanding all the 
skill and experience obtainable. Amateur practice would then be un- 
wise, and might be disastrous. 

The great importance of an early administration has been already 
insisted upon. The discovery that, by promptly adopting remedial 
measures, the progress of the disease is effectually stayed, is scarcely 
second in value to that of the specific itself. 

Unlike many other medicinal agents, the cure for small-pox is 
neither dangerous nor injurious. Its very simplicity — a recommen- 
dation rather than otherwise — has been, in fact, the greatest obstacle 
to its adoption ; its household familiarity the cause of its depreciation. 

Doubtless, were the specific a novel product of distant shores, 
discovered by one eminent in science, or high in social position, a 



29 



different reception, than that hitherto awarded, would have awaited it. 
The origin of a discovery however, does not affect its value, nor its 
treatment its importance. Prejudice may spurn, at first, a gift so 
common; interest, vested and selfish, may denounce it, yet these, 
strong though they be, must yield to truth. Resistance to fact is as 
futile as it is foolish. Opposition to good is more — it is criminal. 

Whether welcome or despised, the truth is now patent to the world, 
that " A safe, speedy, and certain cure " for small-pox has been dis- 
covered, and that this hitherto dreaded, disfiguring, and fatal dis- 
ease, by the blessing of Heaven, need be so no longer. 



THE DISCOVERY OF VACCINATION. 



Dr. Huillet, medical officer in charge at Pondicherry, has availed 
himself of a sojourn there to verify the truth as to whether vaccination 
was practised in India in very remote periods, and he has found the 
mention of variola and cow-pox in a work, attributed to Dharwantari, 
who lived many years before Hippocrates. William Bruce, consul at 
Bushira, believes that vaccination was for a long time practised in 
Persia, and Humbolt says that for a number of years the inhabitants 
of the Cordilleras had noticed the preservative effects of vaccine. 
Without doubt the ancient author of Sataya Grantham is entitled to 
priority, but it was a Frenchman, Rabaut Ponniner, brother to Rabaut 
St. Etienne, Protestant minister at Massilargues, near Lunel, who dis- 
covered in 1784 that inoculation from the teat of a cow was a preven- 
tive against small-pox. He communicated his idea to two Englishmen, 
Ireland and Pugh, who spoke of it to Jenner. Mr. Ireland subse- 
quently wrote to M. Rabaut, who, according to the Journal de Thera- 
peutique, for May, 1877, declared himself satisfied. — Medical Press. 



30 



VIRUS AND SMALL-POX. 

HOW THE FIRST IS MADE — IS IT WORSE THAN THE SECOND^WHAT 
THE EVOLUTIONISTS SAY OF VACCINATION. 



As so much of the best blood, and the worst blood, too, of Detroit 
is now mingled with what is called pure bovine virus, the public may 
be interested in learning what the virus is and how it is prepared. It 
all comes from Dr. Pettet's institution in Cleveland. Dr. Pettet's 
laboratory is simply a cow stable. The raw material is represented by 
a number of yearling thoroughbred heifers. Young and blooded 
stock are used on account of the thinness of their skin and the purity 
of their blood from all disease, and preference is given to the females 
on account of their having a large surface of hairless skin on their 
udders, which is peculiarly convenient. The udders and the insides 
of the thighs of a heifer are shaved clean of stray hairs, carefully 
scarified all over and then annointed with fresh vaccine taken on the 
spot from a previously diseased animal. In ten days time all the an- 
nointed surface has festered and become covered with pustules. At 
this time the first crop of vaccine is taken. The heifer is laid on her 
back. The postules are tapped, and, in the amber colored liquor flow- 
ing therefrom are dipped the so-called " points" and "quills" of 
commerce. The points are thin slips of ivory about the size of a 
small penknife blade, The quills are common goosequills. To these 
points and quills the gummy liquor sticks, growing hard on being 
dried. These points and quills retail for twenty-five cents, and are 
good each for two or three vaccinations. At the end of three weeks 
the festers have gone down and the scabs have formed over the whole 
surface which had previously been inoculated. These are removed 
and cut up into little squares of about a quarter of an inch in size and 
three grains in weight. They are then placed on squares of black 
wax, to which they adhere tightly, are thoroughly dried and wrapped, 
first in cotton batting and afterwards in rubber cloth. They thus re- 
tail for three dollars apiece, or a dollar a grain. Great care is taken 
of the vaccine in all forms to prevent exposure to cold under 40 
degrees, or heat over 80 degrees, or the least moisture, any of which 
conditions would destroy the virtue of the virus. Even with all this 
precaution vaccine becomes useless after it is two or three weeks old, 
and should always be used before it is a week old. Old virus, or virus 
in the least decomposed, is poisonous, and may prove fatal to the per- 
son inoculated with it. It is owing to the fact that large quantities of 
it grow old on the producers' hands, as well as the expense of buying 
and hiring valuable stock, that makes the pure bovine virus so dear in 
the market. 

This is the manner in which " pure bovine virus" is produced, and 
at the very best one can hardly help thinking that " pure'' is not just 
the right word in the right place. It is hardly to be wondered at that 
many people and many of the profession at first resisted the practice 
of a process which is inherently so unclean, and is associated in every 



31 



step with disease and corruption. Its use having become almost uni- 
versal, the profession and people generally ascribe to it the decadence 
of the more horrible disease it is designed to prevent, and they have 
at least the coincidence to sustain them, Still, murmurs are beginning 
to be heard, and from very high quarters too, against the whole sys- 
tem, and there are men of the highest scientific attainments who main- 
tain that vaccination has had very little, if anything, to do with the 
decadence of small-pox, and is of no use to-day as a preventive. 
From the modern doctrine of evolution, the opponents of vaccination 
derive the theory that small-pox itself has caused its own decay by 
killing off the individuals and families most susceptible to it. Each 
epidemic visitation has been less wide-spread and has found fewer 
victims, until now there are only left isolated individuals here and 
there who incur any danger of taking it. It has literally devoured its 
inheritance of human victims, is starved out, and is now no more 
dangerous than any other disease. They who believe in this theory 
regard vaccination as an unmitigated evil, and as the frequent cause of 
innumerable diseases, and advise to avoid it as one would small-pox 
itself. 

The reader can take his choice between the schools. 




SI SAFE, SPEEDY, and CERTAIN I f 




C IJ E E 



SMALL-POX: 



CASES ILLUSTRATIVE OF 
ITS EFFICACY IN EVERY STAGE OF THE DISEASE 
IN PREVENTING D IS FIG URFMFNT, Etc., Etc. 



Facts are stubborn things." 



COPYRiaHTED. 




WILLIAM ROSE, TRENTON, 

WAYNE COUNTY, MICH. 



1877, 

I* MOJO, '^r, CKNTH. 

DETROIT PRINTING COMPANY, S() WOOL). AVE. 




